Biodiversity to Bioeconomy: How Biotechnology is Transforming North East India

Introduction

India’s North East Region (NER), rich in biodiversity, is emerging as a hub for biotech-driven sustainable development. The Department of Biotechnology (DBT) has been investing 10% of its annual budget since 2010 to harness bioresources, promote biotech education, and drive entrepreneurship.

Phases

1. 2010 - 2014 = Focus on Basic infrastructure creation & HRD
2. 2015 - 2020 = Strengthening of grants writing skills but few focused research areas addressed
3. 2021 - 2025 = Trained scientists in NER to work on local challenges

Key Initiatives & Programmes

Twinning R&D Programme (2010-11) – Collaboration between 65+ institutions, benefiting 450 researchers & 2000 students.

Biotech Hubs (Since 2011) – 126 hubs established in universities & colleges to enhance research infrastructure.

Biotech Labs in Schools (BLiSS) (2014) – Introduced labs in senior secondary schools to promote early education in biological sciences.

Visiting Research Professorship (2015) – Experts guiding advancements in biotech & life sciences.

Specialized Training (2015-16) – Focused on chemical ecology, genomics, and biomedical research for NER scientists.

HRD programmes in NER

• DBT Research associateship program
• DBT PG program
• Biotech Industrial training program (BITP)
• Skill Vigyan Programme in Biotechnology
• Star College Programme
• DBT e-Library Consortium (DeLCON)

Support for Farmers & Entrepreneurs 🚜👨‍🔬

DBT-NE Centre for Agricultural Biotechnology – Strengthening agricultural biotech, focusing on citrus research & certified planting materials. Medicinal Crop Cultivation – 64.1 acres under turmeric & lemongrass, benefiting 649 farmers. Essential Oil Distillation Unit (Arunachal Pradesh) – Supporting rural revenue generation. Wild Apple Value Addition (Assam & Meghalaya) – Empowering tribal communities through processed products like jam, candy, and juice.

Major Achievements

Bacterial Blight-Resistant Rice (‘Patkai’) – Developed by Assam Agricultural University & released by CVRC. Rapid Brucellosis Detection Kit – A Lateral Flow Assay (LFA) for livestock disease screening. Pig Disease Diagnosis Expert System (PDDES) – Mobile app for diagnosing pig diseases, available on Google Play Store. Current updates - Doc

01.12.2024 - The Hindu

A 3 day festival to showcase the cultural, social and economic fabric of the 8 north eastern states

North eastern states

1. Assam
2. Arunachal pradesh
3. Meghalaya
4. Mizoram
5. Tripura
6. Nagaland
7. Sikkim
8. Manipur

8 avatars of Lakshmi

1. prosperity
2. opulence
3. purity
4. wealth
5. knowledge
6. duty
7. agriculture
8. animal husbandry

November 2025

Local drinks

Apong and types

Apong has two types, depending on ingredients

1. Nogin Apong
   • made by fermenting cooked rice along with starter cakes made of local plants
   • mainly prepared for everyday consumption
2. Po:ro Apon
   • fermented using sticky cooked rice.
   • is prepared for special occasions like weddings and festivals.

• In Arunachal Pradesh recently, a brand, Siang Beverage Pvt, launched two bottled variants of the apong, one of which is amkel, made from black rice

Sulai

• usually prepared by fermenting molasses, often mixed with alum and calcium carbide.
• alcohol content of sulai is higher than the rice beer traditionally prepared at home

Judima

• prepared from a starter kit
• distinguished from the use of a wild herb local to dima hasao district called Thembra (senegalia pennata)
• it has a distinct sweet taste
• takes around one week to prepare

Chuak

• made of boiled rice mixed with medicinal herbs ad stuffed in to earthen pots with crushed banana leaves

Cholai

• spurious illicit liquor made from jaggery or rice. Adulterated industrial alcohol is later added to this concoction to make it strong.
• These spurious liquors have also led to multiple deaths over the years. Print